Aptamer-Au NPs conjugates-enhanced SPR sensing for the ultrasensitive sandwich immunoassay

The goal of this work is to explore the amplification effect of aptamer-gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) conjugates for ultrasensitive detection of large biomolecules by surface plasmon resonance (SPR). A novel sandwich immunoassay is designed to demonstrate the amplification effect of aptamer-Au NPs conjugates by using human immunoglobulin E (IgE) as model analyte. Human IgE, captured by immobilized goat anti-human IgE on SPR gold film, is sensitively detected by SPR spectroscopy with a lowest detection limit of 1 ng/ml after anti-human IgE aptamer-Au NPs conjugates is used as amplification reagent. Meanwhile, the non-specific adsorption of aptamer-Au NPs conjugates on goat anti-human IgE is confirmed by SPR spectroscopy and then it is minimized by treating aptamer-Au NPs conjugates with 6-mercaptohexan-1-ol (MCH). These results confirm that aptamer-Au NPs conjugates is a powerful sandwich element and an excellent amplification reagent for SPR-based sandwich immunoassay.